


Forget Me Not

by Sunshine101010



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Black Hat isn’t the Nicest Eldritch horror out there, Dark Humor, F/M, Gen, Gender-neutral Reader, He low-key kinda does, M/M, Reader doesn’t think Black Hat cares, discussion in the dark, frazzled reader who’s just trying their best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-04-24 13:59:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19174723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshine101010/pseuds/Sunshine101010
Summary: After escaping one dark, threatening creature in the middle of the night while running through a mansion with an interesting (and headwear orientated) design, you crash straight into a much more dangerous one in your panic. Sadly, he seems to like the way you squirm under his (for lack of a better word) scrutinizingly evil and chilling gaze.Lucky you.





	1. Running Blind

The dark hallway seemed to close in around you as you continued to run, body tense with fear and pure adrenaline. The sound of cracking thunder accompanied by your own rasping, quickening breath spurred you on, one foot after another and another. Your chest burned horribly, terribly with each inhale, legs spent from exertion.

But you couldn't stop, no, you just couldn't. If you stopped, it would get you. That horrid, retched thing would catch up, and it would grab you, and it would kill you where you stood in the middle of the night in some creaky corridor of this God-forsaken place you had come to call home. A million scenarios flashed through your mind as you continued to run, each more gruesome than the last. Turning a corner at breakneck speed, you almost tripped as you mulled over the face Mr. Black Hat would make when he found your mangled remains in the morning, after this was all over.

You tried to console yourself by saying that he'd look mildly concerned, at the most. You were a rather valuable part of his little freak show opening act he labeled as his staff. Perhaps he'd frown, realizing that he lost an important member of his organization, and he'd speak a good word or two about you. Ha, even in your altered state of extreme paranoia and dread, you knew that would never happen.

No, if he were to frown, it would only be because he was scoffing at how difficult it was to clean your bloodstains from the antique carpet you had so inconveniently been murdered on. Really now, couldn't you have been a little courteous and died a few feet to the left, on the hardwood?

You were crying at this point, realizing that you wouldn't last much longer before you'd collapse. There was only one option left. Your eyes swiveled frantically in your skull as you looked for a door to enter, any door to hide behind in a last futile attempt to save your poor, damned soul from whatever was chasing you through this maze of a mansion. You didn't even know where you were right now, you realized with horror. Your thoughts travelled back to your boss, Black Hat. Why did they always trail back to him? You decided to not answer that question at the moment, much more preoccupied with slightly more important matters, like keeping your feet moving and not dying.

He'd be smiling. Yes, you knew that's what he'd do, if you were completely honest with yourself, which was becoming a much less frequent activity of yours after the first few weeks of living in Black Hat's manor. When he found you dead, he'd be smiling, dagger-sharp teeth stretched inhumanly wide, the bright green an interesting contrast against his gray, ashen skin. He'd probably laugh at your misfortune, and then, worst of all, heart-achingly worst of all, he'd forget about you. You'd only be another helpless, foolish victim of the evil and death he oozed, radiated everywhere he went. A casualty under his corrosive touch, squashed between his fingers like a pestering insect. It was that thought that made you finally let slip a strangled, broken sob. You could feel the tears slipping down your face, hot against cold, pale cheeks.

You picked a door at the very end of the hallway you just so happened to be running through. It would have to be enough; it would have to save you. You reached for the golden knob shining slightly in the darkness, twisting it and entering without ever stopping. You slammed the door closed and locked it, groping with the small piece of metal like it was the last thread connecting you to life.

Oh wait, it was.

You turned around to see what room you had entered, vision going blurry as you blindly stumbled through your dark surroundings, half running, half falling. You suddenly crashed against something firm, sturdy. It wrapped around your waist, keeping you upright, steady. Sharp nails pressed lightly against flesh, and you could feel fingers indent the skin of your midsection.

The thing you had so gracelessly flung yourself into grunted at the impact, letting out an incredibly annoyed sigh. Your blood ran cold, body going numb for a second as you realized that you had just escaped a demon to meet the Devil face to face.

"Trouble sleeping, I gather?"

The rumbling, grating voice seemed to come from everywhere all at once, piercing the silence much like Black Hat could so easily pierce through your flesh.

You gulped, swallowing the saliva gathering in your mouth as a wave of sickness overtook you for a moment, whether it be from overexertion, pure fear, or perhaps a special little mixture of both, you weren't quite sure.

"Ah, yes sir, it would seem so," you rasped back weakly, chest heaving to grab at oxygen, let alone words, "I'm afraid that I made a mistake in the amount of sheep I was counting. Ruined my whole night, sure did. How could I just carelessly stumble to number 102 when I didn't even mention 101. Left a nasty taste in my mouth; I'm thoroughly perturbed. Like so perturbed right now, the most I've ever been in my life."

You tried to chuckle lightly, the sound forming more of a desperate gurgle than you would have liked. You were grasping helplessly at straws, trying to prolong the moment you'd have to look him in the eyes and see just how seething and furious you had made him when you were stupid enough to disturb him this late at night. Sure, was it a graceful way to go, babbling like a death row inmate, practically foaming at the mouth? No, but you didn't really care about any traces of dignity you could have attempted to salvage, brain too scrambled to try anything other than string words together into coherent sentences, and sloppily at that.

You could feel his eyes staring down at you, apparent in the invisible weight pushing at your shoulders, atmosphere heavy and thick with danger, so thick that you almost choked on it, like cough syrup. Yuck, you hated cough syrup, especially the flavored kind that was supposed to make the foul stuff better. It only succeeded in making it a thousand times worse. Really, did the idiots who invented the cherry flavored one ever taste a damned cherry in their life, or did they purposefully try to make it taste like the whole collective feeling of human despair plaguing the entire world conveniently packed into a bottle with a push then twist cap?

You felt as Black Hat released one of his hands from your side, instead opting to grab your chin, his long fingers curling around your face to tilt it up. Oh yeah, you were in the middle of a life or death situation, you absently thought as his chilling gesture pulled you out of your reverie.

You gathered your courage and looked up at his face, surprised at what you saw. He didn't seem angry, only bored, maybe agitated. His mouth formed a soft frown, the eye not concealed by his monocle carrying a detached sort of interest.

"Is that so," he muttered gruffly, looking up and down at your disheveled appearance, sweating and pale, trembling in your pajamas, one foot covered by a slipper and the other bare. Oh, you must have lost it while you were running for dear life, funny you didn't notice. It was your favorite pair of slippers, too.

You took a second to gather your thoughts and look at Mr. Black Hat's appearance as well. He, of course, was a stark contrast to your walking disaster of an image. It was around three in the morning, which you had determined from the alarm clock next to your bed before you made the wise decision to jump out and run before the thing crawling on your wall decided to join you under the sheets. Despite this, your Evil Overlord of All Chaos Mr. Black Hat was wearing his usual business attire, the only difference being the lack of his overcoat and how he had pulled his shirtsleeves up to his elbows.

"Yes, sir," you whispered, afraid his calm facade would end in an instant, and along with it, you. "I'm sorry for barging in, I- well, I didn't mean to wake you," you continued to softly mutter.

A sharp chuckle rumbled through his chest before spilling out of his mouth, and you were keenly aware of the reverberating feeling, pressed chest to chest with this creature taken straight out of your worst nightmare.

"Hm, are you really foolish enough to believe that I require something as trivial as sleep, my dear employee?" he continued to laugh, face contorting to accommodate the widening grin plastering his features, "I'm not composed of the same barbaric flesh and bone that you are, not nearly as weak, vulnerable."

He accentuated his last statement by digging his fingers slightly deeper into your side, threatening to break skin. There was something predatory in his eye, held back by only the slightest restraint. You didn't want to push him to release it; you didn't want to die.

"Before I was so rudely interrupted by a blundering, idiotic oaf such as yourself, I was peacefully doing my paperwork," he added after you didn't respond, letting go of your chin to gesture toward the desk at the far corner of the room, right next to the bed.

Right next to the bed, you realized as your eyes finally adjusted to the dim light... Right next to his bed. Black Hat's bed. Which would, obviously, be located in Black Hat's room. Being that it was a bed, this would be, by definition, Black Hat's bedroom. Oh, oh shit. No one, by specific demand from the Eldritch horror himself, was allowed in his room of all places. Reality was catching up to you blisteringly fast now. You began to tremble even more under his vice-like grip, the gesture that once helped you stay steady was now laced with something more dangerous, much like a cat not letting go of the unfortunate mouse he just caught.

"Uhh, you were doing paperwork in the dark?" was the only thing that you could think of saying, and you mentally cursed yourself the moment it slipped your lips.

Black Hat gave you a withering stare that just oozed utter disappointment, eyebrow raised as if he was inspecting one of Doctor Flug's inventions that wouldn't seem to work.

"Oh, right, right," you nervously giggled, realizing your error, "Am I really foolish enough to believe that you, the most evil, most vile villain of all, need something as trivial as, uh, light? Of, well, of course you don't!" you awkwardly exclaimed, sweating bullets like a sinner in church. You hoped that the tasteful dash of flattery you added in there would help ease whatever anger was bubbling up within your boss.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he roughly pushed you off of him, as if in disgust. You tumbled back, falling to the floor with a thud, arms and legs splayed at your sides, landing in a way that you knew would leave bruises in the morning. Well, if you lasted that long.

"Now," he began in a chillingly calm tone, bending down to loom straight over your fallen body, hands behind his back and smirk evident on his face, "You have one minute to properly explain your blatant disrespect to me before I maim you where you lay."

You let out an incoherent, choked sort of noise, which seemed to greatly amuse the demon-like creature in from of you, his teeth flashing bright green, an acidic, corrosive looking color.

"I was in my bedroom, trying to sleep, sir, and then I saw something on my wall. It was making noises, and it was... well it was huge. It was going to get me, so I had to run. I got lost in the hallways; I didn't even know this was your room. I- I just wanted to escape that thing. I never meant to- never wanted-" your voice was cracking pitifully at this point, sobs wracking your weak frame.

"Oh stop your blabbering, you groveling worm," Black Hat growled, reaching down and grabbing you by the scruff of your pajama top, lifting you up, feet tangling, to his eye level as if you weighed nothing.

As if on cue, the door you had entered through began to shake violently, something pushing against it with monstrous force, scratching at the wood and letting out unearthly noises. You reached out and clutched to Black Hat's shirt impulsively, knuckles white as you wrinkled the material in your hold.

Your boss let out a small hum, seeming to love the wave of terror you were experiencing. He could smell it, the fear emanating from every pore in your miserable body.

"Ah, I see you've finally acquainted yourself with my pet," he began, casting his gaze to the shaking door, "How silly you've been. Little Jack seems to only want to meet you. He's quite friendly, truly, well at least after he's had his meal," Black Hat stated cruelty, veiling his gravely voice with a lighter tone, as if that would convince you of his fib.

"Hmm," he continued, tapping a finger to his cheek, as if he were deep in thought, "You've entered into my bedroom after I explicitly told you not to, dared to crash into me like some blundering animal, and have hurt poor, dear old Little Jack's feelings with this business of running away from him."

He stared at you, his eyes almost hypnotic, containing the same sort of power that causes people to not be able to wretch their sight away from a horrendous calamity solely due to the fact of how heinous it is. His anger was coming out now, calm demeanor melting away to reveal something far more sinister.

"You know, I've killed full grown men for actions more trivial than this," he all but hissed, "But," he continued, "I think that I might grace you with a slight bit of mercy, given that you didn't mean to interrupt me."

Your heart soared, eyes going wide at the prospect of actually surviving his encounter.

"Yes, I won't touch a single hair on your head. No, I'd much rather leave that to the discretion of our little friend outside," he stated, cackling as he suddenly started walking towards the shaking door, ready to toss you out to your doom in an instant.

"Please, no, Lord Black Hat, I'm begging you," you exclaimed, clutching even tighter at his shirt as you tried to reason with him.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," he replied coldly, stopping right in front of the door, pressing your back into the cold oak, one hand resting lightly on the handle.

"Do you, I mean, have you even seen what my diet consists of? I eat microwave dinners like every night. Ramen noodle and junk food replace the main food groups in my hypothetical food pyramid. I can't be healthy for your pet to digest. He'll probably have indigestion for days, at the very least, and he's such a big creature that, that must be a mess to clean, you know? Truly, this is for the sake of everyone here-" you ranted, absently wondering how your life amounted to this embarrassing display.

Black Hat drew you close to him before slamming you back against the door, a splitting pain emanating from your head and back.

"You utter buffoon. I generously give you a chance to redeem yourself, and this is the best excuse your pitiful flesh mound of a brain can come up with?" he screamed in your face, voice turning into something inhuman sounding. Even his face was changing, teeth growing larger and dripping with green drool, showing more and more of his true self.

You closed your eyes, not daring to see him shift any further. You panicked, scrambling for anything else you could say to sway him, to save your life.

"Well, I'm also very useful to you, sir," you squeaked meekly as he growled venomously at you, eyeing you like a slab of meat at the butcher's. "In the past three weeks I've started working here, I've already found and corrected s-seven errors in manufacturing and shipping, and I've found ways to promote productivity by 17%. Not, not to mention that sales have risen 15.4% since my arrival here. And, and well, there was that one time when I figured out that one of our clients had been stealing money from us over small increments for the past month," you finished lamely, wracking your brain for any other time you had been of use.

"Yes, I remember that certain situation. I had a marvelously fun time dismembering that fellow, if I do recall," Black Hat muttered softly, raging anger seeming to dissipate as quickly as it had appeared.

"I suppose it would be a good waste of begrudging acceptable talent to simply discard of you. Fine, you may stay here, for now," he finally decided, as if weighing the options of which channel to watch on the television instead of determining whether you’d live or die.

This being said, you couldn't help but smile lightly at his comment. It was the closest you'd ever gotten to praise for your work from him. It gave you a twisted sort of pride, knowing what you did for him was wrong, but enjoying his approval anyway.

He unceremoniously walked to a corner of the room nearest to his desk and dumped you there, once again your weary legs landing on the ground in a heap.

"Thank you, sir" you answered gratefully, sitting on the floor with your bruised knees propped up, resting your chin on the sensitive skin there while your arms wrapped around your legs.

He simply glanced at you before going back to the shaking door, opening it slightly ajar to thrust his head through. A bone-chillingly horrible noise emitted from the corridor, either from his mouth or from the monster's. Black Hat then proceeded to close the door calmly, wiping his hands together in a causal gesture, and the noise and movement from outside suddenly ceased. You decided not to think too long or let your imagination wander to what he might have done.

He moved languidly back to his desk, mumbling something about finally having peace and quiet. Sitting still for a moment, he arched his back into a stretch, the popping noises unnaturally loud and jarring. Was there not one thing that this creature could do without being horrifying while doing it?

You waited for him to speak, wondering what to do in the silence shrouding the room as he started to continue whatever work he was doing previous to you barging in. You thought he might be toying with you, acting as if you weren't there just to catch you by surprise when you inevitably let your guard down. As thankful as you were for him not feeding you to that beast, you found it awfully strange that he had served you no retribution at all for your blunder. This thought kept you on edge as you watched him write, the task absurdly humane and ordinary for a dark being such as himself. The quiet of the room unsettled you, but Black Hat didn't seem to mind at all.

He suddenly slammed a fist to his desk, growling in frustration as he leaned back in his chair, eyes lazily turning to you. The sudden jolt surprised you, causing your arms to curl tighter around yourself.

"I'm bored of paperwork and in no mood to continue," Black Hat told you blandly, "Naturally, I'd just make you do it, but you look like someone just hit you repeatedly with a mallet, so I know you'd just screw it up."

You didn't quite know how to respond, so in your hazy state of mind, you decided to give your boss finger guns from across the room, adding in a lopsided smile.

"Sure would," you mumbled.

He pinched the area between his eyes, sighing heavily for a second time that night.

"How is it that you can brilliantly come up with ways to earn me money, yet you babble like an absolute idiot when simply spoken to? You are a conundrum within itself. I have half the mind to task Flug with experimenting on you until I can see what makes your brain work, because right now, I have not the faintest idea," he stated harshly, glaring daggers at you.

"What, not going to crack another joke with me, dearest? You seemed full of them just a moment ago, so speak up now before I change my mind about throwing you to my pet. Why do you act like such an imbecile in front of me?" he continued, voice rising as he stood from his chair.

"It's because... I'm terrified of you," you replied simply, voice surprisingly clear, the tremble in it subsiding for a moment.

Black Hat seemed to calm a bit after your answer, his face turning blank as he looked you over. He sat back in his chair, squeezing the armrests like a caged animal, never tearing his eyes from you.

"As you should be," he stated bluntly, chillingly.

"Could I... ask you something?" you questioned softly from your corner, a smidge less intimidated once he was calmed.

"I thought you just said you were terrified of me."

"I am. But, I'm also really curious about you. This this the longest you've talked to me..."

"Fool. What must you ask?"

"Do you get lonely, staying up all night by yourself? I'd get lonely, if I were you."

"You could never be anything near of a comparison to me," he stated with a growl, "Of course I don't get lonely, I haven't the capacity for those sorts of ridiculous sentiments."

"But, you get bored."

"Yes, I suppose I do get bored, but that's much different from being lonely," he scoffed, folding his arms to his chest.

"Hm, I suppose. If you'd like, I can come visit you sometimes, and you can talk to me, and you might not be lone- ah, bored anymore at night," you proposed gently, trying to gauge his reaction as you stifled a yawn.

"Why on earth would you want to come visit me when I've threatened to kill you several times within the span of thirty minutes?" asked Black Hat, actually looking confused.

You shrugged your shoulders, leaning back against the cold wall while tilting your head up, eyes closed, "Oh, I don't know. Guess I'm a bit lonely. I guess that I fear something else more than I fear dying..."

"And what would that be, you loon?," asked Black Hat, feeling his anger rise once more as the night dragged on. Must this idiot always speak nonsense?

"I’m scared of you forgetting me, of course," you said with a faint giggle, body going slack as you lulled off to sleep, leaving your boss thoroughly perplexed.

Black Hat watched as your chest gently rose and fell with each even breath, watched as you slept like a babe in front of the epitome of evil, not a care in the world. He chalked it up to you being delirious due to your near-death experience. Not that he would have let you die, no, you were too useful for that. He only threatened to toss you out because, as a subordinate of his, he required a certain amount of respect out of you. Over the long course of his life, he had learned that fear was the best way to elicit such respect out of others.

He wasn't going to admit, not even to himself, that there might have been another factor preventing him from letting you die. You interested him greatly. He could never discern what would tumble out of your mouth next, and that troubled him, greatly. He was always prepared, for everything. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been caught at a loss for words. It must have been eons ago, if it had ever actually happened. Yet here he was, thankful that you had fallen asleep, because he didn’t know what to say.

He stood up from his chair, walking briskly over to you and lifting you into his arms like a rag doll. You really had passed out, he thought absently, inspecting your sleeping face. The expression on your face was so... soft. So breakable. He walked over to his bed and placed you down on it, making sure to cover you up with the wine colored blanket before walking back to his desk and sitting down.

If you slept on the floor, you were bound to work slower tomorrow due to soreness. It would be simply horrible for business. It wasn’t like he ever used the creaky old bed, anyway. Black Hat went back to work, just as he had been doing for centuries and centuries past. Kill people, create weapons to kill people, sell said weapons to people who wanted to kill people, acquire money to kill more people, then repeat steps 1-4. It had, at some point he couldn’t quite determine, become awfully mundane. The same routine put a damper to the whole process he had once loved so much. It was a reason why he had chosen to retire, but he realized that he was still in the same loop. Trapped.

He glanced over at you. You had turned a bit in your sleep, making some garbled noise in the back of your throat. Restless sleeper resting next to restless being of immeasurable power. You’d never cease to surprise him, he realized offhandedly. He chuckled lightly, the sound softer than his usual menacing tone.

Truly, you were a fool. How could you ever worry about him forgetting you? He was sure he wouldn’t. Positive, even.

He would have to mention that to you, next time you came for a visit.


	2. Eyes Wide Open

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being invited over to visit again, you and Black Hat bond over several different topics, including, but not limited to, prostitutes, the Spanish language, and chess.

You stood, staring at the closed door in front of you, shifting the small bag hanging from your shoulder uneasily. You gulped, heart slightly racing as you held your hand up to knock, frozen in midair due to frayed nerves and second thoughts. 

There was no giant monster chasing you this time. No unspeakable horror rattling the floorboards as you ran blindly in the dark. You weren't in danger, well, at least not yet. Even so, for some odd reason, you couldn't shake the sinking feeling pooling in your stomach. You supposed it was because, as Black Hat's employee, you took your job _very_ seriously. You had a new task at hand, directly ordered by your gruesome and malevolent boss himself, and you were determined to do it well.

It surprised you very much when you had woken up on the morning of that fateful day, lying tucked in your bed with not the faintest clue as to how you got there. Last you remembered, you had stumbled into Black Hat's room, ranted about sheep and indigestion, then fallen asleep on his floor. The whole event was extremely embarrassing, and you had made very important plans to completely push it from your mind and forget about it completely. Unfortunately, when you had sat up in your bed that morning, you happened to find an envelope perched neatly on your bedside table. You wouldn't call it an invitation, even if you had wanted to flatter yourself. It was more like an order, a command, a _task_. One could even go so far as to perhaps call it a thinly veiled threat. 

Then again, when dealing with Black Hat, everything was a threat, veiled or not.

The letter was made of stiff parchment, crisp and official, complete with a red wax stamp carrying Black Hat's logo. You opened it reverently, hands slightly shaking from anticipation and a smidge of fear. The words were in black ink, long swooping letters giving the message a regal and important urgency to it. The intensity your boss constantly gave off seemed to have leaked from his quill into his penmanship.

It read as follows.

_Dearest Blundering Dolt,_

_I know you have the long-term memory of a goldfish, but I am sure you remember the course of events that occurred last night. I have heavily deliberated your offer to come and visit me, and I have come to a verdict._

_Whenever you find free time in your miserable, insignificant little life, you are allowed to accompany me in my bedroom at night. I rest assured that you will successfully abate my "boredom" you spoke so heavily on, and I hope you will not disappoint._

_For my sake, and **yours**._

_Your Fetchingly Charming Superior,_

_Black Hat_

The aforementioned letter you had received was now located in the very bottom drawer of your dresser, safely secured in a wooden box. Ahem, not that it was very important to you, getting a handwritten letter from your boss, asking for you to visit him at night. No, not interesting or exciting or exhilarating at all. Deciding to treasure it forever and never let it go had nothing to do with your feelings towards Black Hat. Ha, of course not.

You were just a very, _very_ avid fan of stationary.

You wretched your thoughts out of the past and into the present moment, shaking your head slightly as you gathered your courage to knock on Black Hat's door. With your other hand, you checked your pocket watch for the time. The gold little trinket glistened in the faint light, dutifully letting you know by its spindly clock hands that it was five past one in the morning. It was as good a time as any to visit, you thought to yourself. You were being silly, childish even. Just knock. He had requested you come, so here you were. It was nothing more, nothing less. Knock and get it over with. You took a deep breath and moved your hand to do just that.

"Will you _ever_ knock, or am I going to have to wait another ten minutes as you stand outside my door before your two brain cells finally rub together, allowing you to perform a complete action?" came a gruff, annoyed voice from the bedroom, distinct and unmistakably your ill-intended, dastardly boss, Black Hat.

You fumbled, losing your wits in one fatal swoop as you felt your face heat up. At the present moment, you were thoroughly debating whether being eaten by Little Jack was a better fate than this.

Clearing your throat with whatever sense of prestige and dignity you could muster, you knocked lightly on his door.

A loud sigh could be heard from the other side.

"Come in."

The door creaked in an obnoxiously loud manner as you entered slowly, awkwardly stepping inside, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Ah, how did you know I was waiting outside?" you asked meekly, shuffling your feet as you gave the eldritch horror sitting in front of you at his desk a lopsided, uneasy smile.

"You've seen me shape-shift into unimaginable images of horror, bend the laws of physics and the natural order, and tear literal gashes through the very fabric of reality, yet you ask me how I knew you were loitering in front of my bedroom entrance. Is that correct?" he questioned with a tone of exasperation, shifting in his chair to get a better view of your slumped figure.

This was starting out just superbly, you thought to yourself bitterly. 

"Ahem, yes," you stated in the most matter-of-fact voice you could muster, "Yes, that is my question, sir."

"I'm a being of immeasurable power; of course I could sense you standing there."

"Really? I was kinda wondering more about the specifics as to how you realized I was there. Like, uh, do you have super-hearing or maybe an all-seeing eye you hide under the hat? Whoa, could you _smell_ me or someth-"

"I saw your shoes pacing around from under the crack in the doorframe, and you aren't as quiet as you think you are. I heard you mutter something about stationary. Remind me not to assign you to any stealth missions," Black Hat admitted with an air of defeat, already second-guessing his choice of allowing you to come visit him. 

"Oh, oh that's cool..." you replied with an awkward laugh, "I'm really glad it wasn't the smelling thing I was talking about. Don't tell anyone, but I forgot deodorant this morning."

Black Had responded with a blank stare. 

You contemplated whistling for Little Jack.

"Let me restart. I'm sorry; I really wanted to make a good entrance," you said softly, adjusting the bag at your side and fixing your posture, smoothing down the wrinkles of your clothes.

"I saw your letter, and I just want to let you know that I won't disappoint you in my performance. It's an honor to keep you company, and I promise to make sure you aren't bored for the rest of the night," you confessed sincerely, meaning every word with the purest of sentiments. 

"Do you realize that when you put it like that you sound like a very eager prostitute?" asked Black Hat from his seat, deadpan. 

"Wait... This isn't _that_ , right?" you replied in horror, taking a few steps back and mentally recounting every step and choice in your life that led to this unfortunate meeting with your boss.

 _"No, of course this isn't that you absolute moron,"_ he almost shouted, finally losing his cool as he stood up and pointed to a corner of the room, the lights flickering ominously due to his anger. "Just sit there and be quiet for a few moments, won't you?" 

"Roger that," you replied meekly, quickly shuffling to the area he had pointed to, plopping down on the floor with an audible, defeated thump.

You watched as Black Hat grumbled, straightening out his tie and taking a deep breath before gracefully sitting back down, foot tapping lightly under his desk as he gave you a sideways glance before resuming whatever paperwork he had previously been attending to.

You took this time to regroup yourself. Everything was going downhill rather fast, you quickly determined after thinking back on the last five minutes of interaction with your boss. If you had learned anything from your time here at the Black Hat Organization, it was that to come prepared was essential in any task you wished to succeed in. Well, that, and to never touch one of Demencia's teen magazines. You shivered as a most unsatisfactory flashback played in your mind.

 _Never again_.

Luckily for you, you had stocked up on the information and tools you needed to make this night a success. Using the intel you found in the self-help book you read, titled _How to Act Like You Know What's Going On, Even Though You Don't Know Shit_ , (a lengthy title, yes, but critics highly praised it) you realized that at this moment the best thing to do was to break the tension in the air and start some small talk. This would give the appearance that you were totally unfazed by what had just occurred. You needed to ooze confidence, secrete dominance, and sweat maturity if you were to impress your boss. You decided on picking something that would transition best from what you both had previously been talking about. Something you could incorporate from your discussion a few moments ago. Something that would sound natural, smooth. You thought back on what that might be.

"So..." you began, plastering a cocky smirk on your face that you had seen on a magazine cover promising to help people further enhance their assertive body language, ready to lay waste to Black Hat's less-than-satisfactory impression of you through deep, philosophical conversation.  

"Prostitutes... _am I right?_ "

"If you are trying to start a discussion with me about prostitutes, I'm going to have to light you on fire," Black Hat responded, not even looking up from his paperwork.

"Prostitutes? No, no, I ah, I didn't say that. I said... prostates!"

"I'm not talking to you about prostates, either. And don't ever exclaim 'prostates' in my presence ever again."

"Ah... yes... of course... Would you like to hear about the evil thing I did today, then?" you asked softly, grasping for straws and hoping, begging that this would finally catch his fancy. 

Black Hat inhaled deeply, shifting in his chair to face you, leaning forward to catch your eyes as he rested his chin in his palm. He stared at you with a detached sort of expression, but there was a faint glimmer of interest in his menacing eye. A sort of fondness, even, if you dared to go that far.

He radiated malice, coldness, danger everywhere he went, but he always seemed to soften, if only a little, for you.

 _He_ would disagree, of course. He had neither the time nor the capacity to feel any sort of silly _fondness_ for someone other than himself. He was simply humoring you because the way you floundered like a fish in front of him was amusing. He only invited you because yes, he'd admit, the nights were growing rather long and rather dull, and he didn't mind having someone to threat and embarrass when the sun went down.

"Fine, please do tell what nefarious deed you did today. I'm on the very edge of my seat," he replied in his gravely, grating voice, words dripping with sarcasm and also, a bit alarmingly, green drool.

You perked up instantly, jumping at the chance to impress Mr. Black Hat, the man, or more accurately, the monster you had pledged your allegiance to.

"Well," you started, peering up at him excitedly from your place on the floor, "if you didn't know, Dr. Flug had the audacity to eat the last slice of pizza yesterday evening, around 6:30 if my memory is correct. I had explicitly told him that that pizza, was in fact, _my_ property since I called dibs on it way before his cruddy bag-face ever laid sight on it. So, today, I exacted my revenge in the most gruesome, heart-wrenching way I thought possible." 

You stopped for a beat, gauging his reaction. You were surprised to see that Black Hat was listening attentively, leaning forward even more as he tilted his head in a contemplative gesture, absently flickering his tongue in interest.

"An act forged in the kiln of vengeance... I'm intrigued. Continue," he prompted you gruffly, eyes narrowing with a twisted sort of glee.

Emboldened, you sprung to your feet, knowing full-well that Black Hat had a flair for the dramatic and that he appreciated liveliness and showmanship in even the most mundane of tasks, whether that be selling illegal arms to millions or simply recalling the events of the day. 

You raised your voice, adding a sort of rushed urgency and confidence in your speech, pairing this with hand movements to accentuate certain parts of your story.

"So, to exact my revenge, this morning I snuck into the kitchen before everyone woke up. Now, being the very astute and observant person that I am, I had come to notice in the last few weeks that my said target, Dr. Flug, has a certain weakness. Every morning, he goes to the mixed nuts container, and he grabs a handful for breakfast. After much research, I came to the conclusion that Dr. Flug most favors, thus most enjoys, the cashews from the mixed nuts container. So, while he thought he was safe in bed, not a care in the world, I ate every single cashew in that god-forsaken tub of nuts. Each and every one."

"Mr. Black Hat, sir. Please, ask me what was the worst part of my actions, if you would," you stated grievously, voice heavy and solemn.

"What was the worst part?" Black Hat complied, giving you a rather odd expression as he steepled his fingers together, deep in thought.

"I don't even _like_ cashews."

You both exchanged a reverent sort of silence, a certain look that surpassed words. 

"An hour later," you continued with the story, "Dr. Flug walked into the kitchen. I had already hidden any evidence of my actions prior, and I sat comfortably at the kitchen table. I watched as Dr. Flug searched for fifteen whole minutes for one, solely one, cashew in that container. His actions were in vain, of course, but I stayed silent. At one point, he had dumped everything on the counter, cursing and muttering under his breath for that cashew. By the end of it, I think he cried. He came and asked me about it, and I told him Demencia did it. Later today I learned that she kicked his ass because he confronted her about it."

"Ah, so that's why he was whining about a dislocated arm socket earlier..." Black Hat mused, leaning back in his chair in heavy contemplation. 

He closed his eyes for a moment, absorbing your story and recalling each step. He opened his eyes and stared straight at you. 

"Hm, I have a few notes, but overall, you did a... _commendable_ job on causing misery towards our dear doctor. I would have, of course, done a much better job, but we all start somewhere. I enjoyed the subtlety in it, the gentle way you went about it by picking something mundane, something Flug never even thought to protect... Blaming it on Demencia and turning your fellow employees against each other was another stroke of artistic flair I can appreciate," he stated, business-like and curt.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether to say what was on the tip of his ancient tongue.

"...Well done." 

You reached for his hand without even thinking, squeezing it lightly as you leaned forward and beamed. 

"Wait, you really think so?" you tried to say cooly, failing miserably as your voice raised in pitch. 

Black Hat noted how cute you looked when you were excited. He noted how warm your hand was, how soft it felt curled around his own colder, calloused one. He took into account the way your nose scrunched and eyes crinkled when you were happy. He methodically stored this moment in his wicked, twisted brain. 

Then he pulled his hand away from yours and shooed you back, grumbling about tearing you from limb to limb or something of that sort. 

"Yes, yes, shut up now or I'll take it back, you grimy street urchin," he scoffed, wiping his hands together, as if you had filthied them. 

You sat back down at your corner, unfazed by this actions and still content with his words. You really couldn't help but continue smiling, glad you had won at least one small victory during the turmoil of the night.

Currently, Black Hat was deliberating whether he wanted to slap that same smile straight off of your face, or whether he wanted to preserve it until the end of time. It was quite the troubling predicament, to say the least. 

You, realizing that you had the upper hand at the moment due to the good mood he was currently in, decide to seize that moment for all it was worth and try another tactic to keep him occupied.

"Would you like to play Uno, maybe?" you asked hopefully, pulling out the heavily worn (or as you'd like to call it, heavily loved) deck of multicolored cards from your little bag in your corner of the room. 

"Uno? I've never heard of it," he replied lazily, still gazing at your expression before giving the cards a once-over, "Is this game from this century, or the last?"

"Pretty sure it came out within the century, sir," you stated politely, slightly freaked out at the way he saw time. Imagine, counting by centuries instead of years. 

"You've _really_ never heard of Uno, though?" you prodded.

"I have no time to keep up with all these fanciful new parlor games you overrated monkeys have come up with throughout the years. I'm a very busy businessman," he responded, almost defensively, pulling at his gloves and letting out a small huff.

"It's Uno, though. You gotta know it. It's a card game. You match the numbers or colors in the stack? Ya know, Uno. It means 'one' in Spanish, to-" 

 _"I know what it means in Spanish, you dolt,"_ Black Hat exclaimed with a hiss, snatching the pack of cards roughly out of your hands, causing them to spontaneously combust in his grasp, his amiable mood doing a 180 as he suddenly lost his patience. 

You both stared as the ashes of your dearly-departed deck of Uno cards fluttered out of his hand and all around the room, dissipating as if they were never there to begin with. 

"I- I was just making sure you knew..." you responded quietly, sullenly, sending up a silent prayer that your beloved cards might rest in peace.

"I was a Spanish conquistador who went on many, many conquests during a time you only remember from history books. I've been a part of the Mexican cartel for longer than you've been tying your damn shoes. I've started an uncountable number of revolts and wars in too many Latin countries to even name, and I've been speaking the language since it was bloody invented. But, you, you ask me if I know what ' _uno_ ' means."

"Ha, yes, well... I took both Spanish I and Spanish II in high school so, who's _really_ the most qualified one here?" you responded jokingly, giving the manifestation of pure evil who just threw a fit and destroyed your favorite card game a wink and a thumbs up. 

Black Hat calmly stood up from his chair, brushed off his pants, and walked urgently towards you, grabbing you from under the arms and lifting you up like he was simply fetching the mail.

"Hey- hey now, what are you doing?" you asked nervously, afraid maybe you had pushed the metaphorical envelope too far. The literal one was still tucked away in your dresser, of course. 

"I'm throwing you out. Well, I haven't decided on either throwing you out of my room or out the window, but I've always been known to make up my mind rather quickly," Black Hat hissed, grin literally splitting his face in half, teeth flashing with menace. 

"Wait! Wait, why don't... why don't we-" you fumbled, searching around the room for some sort of lifeline. Instead, your gaze settled on an old, dusty chess set tucked against the far wall.

"If you don't like Uno, why don't we play chess?" you asked, well, rather shouted, voice cracking a bit in fear.

Black Hat slowed, then stopped. He lifted your dangling body to his eye level, giving you a dangerous look.

"You won't win against me, you know," he told you slowly, placing you to the floor with more care than he ever had before. It seemed that you had hit a chord within him.

The Lord of All Chaos and Destruction peered down at you and crossed his arms, inspecting you like something he had hit with a fly-swatter, splayed and splattered for his eyes to see.

"Well, I'm not playing to win," you responded simply, really just glad that he had decided not to throw you out of a window.

Black Hat hummed quizzically, snapping his fingers without warning, causing the chess set to form neatly on a table he just conjured, compete with two chairs on either side.

"Then what are you playing for, if not to win?" he asked, gesturing you towards a chair, going so far as to pull it out from under the table for you, then tuck it back in when you sat down.

Black Hat. Ever the abomination, ever the gentleman.

"Oh, well, I guess I'm playing for the satisfaction of playing. I'm playing to further my skills, to practice," you said, pulling each word straight from your ass, hoping you sounded mature.

Black Hat settled himself down at the other side of the table, adjusting the pieces, inspecting a black pawn with absent interest. 

"I think that's the first reasonable thing you've said all night. I can respect the search for improvement, for pleasure," your boss answered, eyebrows slightly raised in surprise.

"Really?" you asked with a giggle, "I was totally lying through my teeth. That's not why I'm playing," you confessed, fiddling with your white king chess piece.

Black Hat growled lowly, slamming his pawn onto its correct position on the board, gazing at you intently.

"Then _why_?" 

"Beat me at this game, and I'll tell you."

"I could easily pry the answer from your lips, if I wanted. I could torture you until you're merely a husk of once was. _You forget your place_ ," the eldritch being stated lowly, speaking clearly, not making any moves toward you. No menacing glares or cruel gestures.

You both knew that there was no need for them; he was terrifying solely as is.

"Do you want to? Hurt me, that is," you questioned, never looking up from the chess piece growing warm in your grasp.

"You'll never cease to continue coming up with ridiculous questions, won't you?" he answered your question tactfully with another question, a skill only a creature in the business world for such a long time would be able to execute so perfectly. He would have liked to have said that he simply didn't want to give you the satisfaction of an answer, but truth be told, he wasn't quite sure if he _had_ an answer.

"I guess not," you replied with a shrug, soft smile disappearing from your face as you glanced up at him, "But humor me, just this once? It'll be fun, having to wait until you beat me. I've always thought that you must be pretty bored getting everything you want, just like that." You punctuated your last sentence with a snap of your fingers.

"I mean, I can't even imagine playing any game I want, knowing beforehand that I'll win. It's like going to an arcade and getting the jackpot each time. Where's the excitement, the thrill? How much worth does the giant teddy bear that costs a million tickets really have if it's simply given to you when you show up? Failure gives success its worth, after all," you told him earnestly, placing your king piece in its proper place on the board, folding your hands together.

Black Hat clicked his nails against the table, the gentle rapping noise both soothing and threatening at the same time.

What right did you have, to lecture him? He was a thousand times your senior. He had seen, experienced things you couldn't even imagine. He was cunning, vicious, intelligent. He was all-powerful, destructive, and very, very tired of never having a challenge. He always won, and he always got what he wanted.

Just as you had said, he had lost the value of success.

"Yes, yes you're oh-so-very wise for your years, now aren't you. Just make your first move, idiot," Black Hat finally responded sarcastically, gesturing towards the board.

He did not demand you to tell him your answer, you noted with a small smirk. 

You nodded, deciding not to push your luck any further as you moved a piece on the board, understanding that you had no chance of winning this game, but trying your best anyway.

“You say how failure only enhances victory, and you’ve indubitably _failed_ several times tonight. What is it that you want to win from me, anyway?” Black Hat questioned, barely putting any thought in his turn, moving languidly, confidently. 

Your attention. Your approval. Your lov-

You were being silly, and you knew it. You couldn’t actually say any of those things. Especially not that last one.

That last one was dangerous.

“I don’t want you to forget me, remember?” you answered shakily, taking your turn with much less assurance than he did.

“Hmm... I see,” he responded, flexing his long fingers before making another move. 

You both played in silence for a few moments, the amount of chess pieces lost on your side piling up at an alarmingly fast rate. You stifled a yawn, trying to focus as time ticked on. Your eyelids felt heavy, weighed down from a day full of work and a night full of awkward conversation with your boss.

“Checkmate.” 

You jumped a little in your seat, shaken fully awake from Black Hat’s gravelly voice cutting through the quiet.

“Oh, good job!” you exclaimed, words a bit slurred, not one bit surprised at the outcome of the match.

“Why did you want to play?” asked Black Hat, quickly cutting to the chase, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. 

You hesitated, embarrassed by the real answer. If you told him the truth, he’d probably kill you.

_Because I love you._

How sappy. How stupid. How totally opposite of everything that Black Hat stood for. A pang of something unsettling, something cold and dark, coursed through you. Why did you want to play? You knew he would never reciprocate your feelings. What was the point? 

“If it was because ‘you don’t want me to forget you,’ then you can stop worrying about that,” Black Hat continued, scoffing at your silence.

“What?” you asked, a bit shocked, not understanding what he was getting at.

“How could I ever forget a blundering fool like yourself? Honestly, you fret over nothing. In a hundred years, a thousand, in the time it takes for humanity to finally consume itself, destroy itself, I’ll most probably still be around. And I’ll still be thinking, thinking about how foolish and unpredictable and entertaining you are,” the living nightmare in front of you stated, still rapping his fingers against the wooden table.

“I won’t forget you.”

You could feel your cheeks redden, such a simple phrase carrying enough impact to momentarily overwhelm you. You weren’t expecting this, that was certain. Sure, he had called you dumb a few times in his little speech, but it was still the nicest thing he had ever said to you. It still put you at ease, a gentle sort of calm running through you, followed by a fluttering in your chest. 

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Black Hat,” you answered simply, giving him the softest, kindest smile he had ever seen in his life. 

What business did you have, no, what _right_ did you have to look so completely at ease in front of him? Didn’t you know that he could end you in an instant? Black Hat thought that he had made that little fact perfectly clear. You were in the lions’ den, beaming from ear to ear in the very maw of the most horrible lion out there. Didn’t you fear him, wasn’t he scary? Why did he feel so strange around you? 

“Yes, well, be grateful,” he gruffly mumbled back, straightening his tie before standing up, “I think it would be best if you return to your bedroom. It’s rather late, and I don’t really feel like carrying you back to your room after you pass out again.”

You stood up too, albeit a bit less gracefully and a bit more awkwardly than your boss.

“You carried me to my room last night?” you questioned, face turning even redder as you quickly grabbed your bag before walking to the door.

Black Hat followed you closely behind, ruffling your hair a bit roughly before opening the door for you.

“Yes, that’s what I said, now isn’t it? What did I say about stupid questions,” he hissed lightly, ushering you out in an indignant manner.

“Right, sorry.”

“You never did tell me exactly why you wanted to play. Not going through with your side of an agreement is a big faux pas in the business world, if you weren’t aware.”

“Beat me at chess tomorrow, and I’ll tell you,” you told him softly, feet shuffling on the cold tile of the dark hallway.

The eldritch horror stared blankly at you for a few moments. You wondered absently if he was planning on killing you or something of that sort.

Then he laughed. 

It wasn’t a cruel laugh, a sinister one pointed towards the despair of someone else. It wasn’t biting or mocking or derogatory in any way. It was genuine, pleasant sounding, even. It made your heart swell.

“Goodnight, idiot. I look forward to tomorrow,” Black Hat stated, shutting his door right after he uttered the phrase.

 You stared at the dark oak for a moment, deciding not to linger too long since you didn’t want another mishap like earlier to happen. You headed toward your bedroom, but for some odd reason you didn’t think you would get much sleep that night.

Your heart was beating wildly, your eyes were wide open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this chapter silly? Yes. Should you have expect any less from me? No. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it, and if you’ve read any of my other BH x Reader oneshots, you might have caught the little Easter egg I added from one of them. I think I’m going to do one more chapter for this eventually, but right now I’m working on a bit more angsty oneshot than I’ve previously been doing. 
> 
> Thank you all for your kudos and comments, I live off of then tbh lol!! Until next time!! ❤️❤️❤️

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic for Villainous, so I suppose I’m kinda just testing the waters, lol. I hope you enjoyed my semi-coherent little drabble i came up with! I’m thinking of making a multiple chapter fanfic of BH x Reader, not sure yet! I might even add to this fanfic, as well. We’ll see! Thanks for reading!! :-)


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